On November 4, I was away for about 10 days. I went to Chile! The Franciscan Friars had a conference about issues of social justice and making peace. They call these issues "JPIC issues." There were Franciscan Friars from all over North America and South America. There were people who spoke Spanish, Portuguese and English. Some of the friars have worked for many years in the rainforests of Brasil and South America. As a group, we wanted to find a way to work together.

There is much pain in the world, and God calls Christians to help heal that pain. When we visited Villa Grimaldi we remembered this. At Villa Grimaldi the former dictator of Chile held and tortured people who opposed his government. Our guide, himself, was held there in the 1970's. It was a powerful, moving experience. My visit there inspired me to reflect on how I can challenge injustice in the world.

People's current relationship to the environment is a source of injustice. The conference heard God's call to consider global warming. It affects the whole world. What we do here in the United States also affects the North Pole, India, South America and other places. It is easy to let economic or political systems run the world. Economics and politics are not evil, but we have to use them with love. Sometimes we make decisions based only on how much money we can make. At those times we can forget that other people are involved. Many companies here in the United States and even the government make decisions about resources in South America. Sometimes we think that the world is good because people can use it and its resources. At those times we can forget that it is also good in its own right. We forget that God plans to save all creation and to bring it to fulfillment.

While we were at the conference, we were able to share in our work. But we also shared a lot of fun. We visited Santiago, the capital of Chile. We saw many sites and some of the Franciscan churches. We visited a vineyard and got to try some Chilean wine... VERY GOOD! As good Franciscans we spent some fun time in the evenings singing and chatting.